House Speaker Boehner (R-OH): President Obama Obligated to Offer Plan That Can Pass Both Houses of Congress

WASHINGTON, DC – At a press conference with Republican leaders today, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) called on President Obama to respond to the offer put forth by House Republicans to avert the fiscal cliff with a balanced approach that cuts spending and prevents a massive tax rate hike on small businesses, or to put forth his own plan that can pass both houses of Congress. Following are Speaker Boehner’s remarks:

“You know, this week we made a good-faith offer to avert the fiscal crisis and that offer included significant spending cuts and reforms, and it included additional revenue. And frankly it was the balanced approach that the president’s been asking for.

“Now we need a response from the White House. We can’t sit here and negotiate with ourselves.

“Our targets and framework are things that we can all agree on, and it’s exactly how we approached our discussions in the Biden Group, my discussions at the White House a year and a half ago and, for that matter, in the Joint-Select Committee.

“And if the president doesn’t agree with our proposal and our outline, I think he’s got an obligation to send one to the Congress – and a plan that can pass both chambers of Congress. If you look at the plans that the White House has talked about thus far, they couldn’t pass either house of the Congress.

“We’re ready and eager to talk to the president and to work with him to make sure that the American people aren’t disadvantaged by what’s happening here in Washington.”